Speaker cable

I must  confess I am not a member of the cable of the month club, never borrow cables to try or even research them a whole lot. Most of the cables I have got either came with systems or I bought them used, generally at a pretty good price.

 Some of the first arguments I had at JB in the early eighties were with the plastic pocket protector Kodak engineers that came in and eyeballed the huge roll of Monster cable sitting behind the front counter. At the time this was their only product, and we sold it by the foot for a dollar each. I tried to explain to them on their terms why it made a difference, and was met with laughter and cynicism every time. To simply say "it makes your speakers sound better" was not enough. Fast forward several years later- well, you know the rest of the story. Solid, stranded, flat, coaxial, ribbons, just about every conceivable configuration appears available today.

As I mentioned, I am not a cable disciple, but the ones I have or do use I like. Audioquest Crystal made a noticeable difference, some of the better Monster Powerline stuff is good as well.

 My absolute favorite still is the Sumiko Ocos in the bottom picture. Referred to as "idiosyncratic" by reviewers,this is one of very few constant impedance cables, meaning you can use unequal lengths from side to side and it won't affect the sound. Basically coaxial in design, a double run is best (what I do). A single run is a bit thin sounding, less dynamic. It has since been taken over by the Danish company Dynaudio.


 I have also played with a few others, they all sound different, and you can spend up to several thousand dollars on a pair of speaker cables. Some are good, some are hype, some are flat out snake oil! Many people take them quite seriously, and I don't scoff at them.

 Let me know which ones are good that you like, and I will keep an eye out for a pair at ten cents on the dollar.